


One's Promised

by littletaebaby



Category: EXO (Band), SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2019-01-06 23:19:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12221001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littletaebaby/pseuds/littletaebaby
Summary: Soulmates; Taemin is all too familiar with the word and the concept behind it. In the dictionary, it is defined as: "a person ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner." At the age of 13, he figured out who his soulmate is suppose to be. However, he catches on too late to the fact that his feelings have surpassed the boundaries of friendship.That's just that problem isn't it?His soulmate's identity - it's none other than Kim Jongin.His straight best friend.





	1. Preview

 

"Jongin."

"Hm? What is it?"

"...Do you believe in soulmates?"

The youngest of the two males twisted to rest on his side, one drowsy eye staring back at his best friend as a fist rubbed againt the other to keep himself awake. Taemin's earnest prodding was enough for him to heave out a long sigh, yawning into the back of his hand before replying, "not particularly. It's a foreign subject to me."

"Oh," the shortest of the two teens dumbly blinked back, not entirely surprised by the answer but the seams of his heart unravelled nonetheless. He bit his lip uncertainly, fingers playing with a loose thread that dangled from the end of their shared pillow, voice tight. "Well, I think I may have fou-"

"That was before though." Jongin's firm voice cut like a knife in the silence of the room, echoing loudly for only Taemin's ears to hear. "Soulmates... I think I'm starting to believe in it."

"O-oh."

The owner of puppy dog eyes found his lips curving into a soft smile, his dark orbs twinkling with something that Taemin couldn't quite place.

"Kang Seulgi believes in soulmates so if I were to have any chances of getting together with her, won't I have to believe in the concept too?"

Taemin is rendered speechless, detecting an unexplained shattering within him and he's left wondering if it's his heart breaking or his soul tearing itself at the rejection of its lifetime companion.

 

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▌Genre: Romance, Drama, Angst

▌Warnings: Language, Rated scenes in future chapters

▌ **Additional Notes:** I haven't written a full story in years so please bear with the slow updates. I'll try to update once every week.  
This story will be short enough. It won't be more than 15 chapters. I originally posted this on AFF (kimtaem) but I have decided to also post it on AO3. However, I have no posted this on any other site.


	2. Intertwined Fates

Kang Iseul and Jung Nari have been best friends ever since they can remember. Despite not following the traditional story of "best friends since birth", the two ladies have known each other since their elementary school days and have been attached by the hip after they met in first grade. At the mere age of 8, the two took interest in the concept of soulmates and spent one too many nights in their local library to educate themselves on the subject, flicking page upon page until Iseul ultimately decided that all signs pointed to Nari as her lifelong companion.

"It's confirmed, Nari," Iseul snatched the light book from her best friend's lap, marching through the makeshift blanket that surrounded their waists until they were pressed thigh to thigh, "you agree with me, don't you? Soulmates _are_ real! There's no doubt in my mind that you're the one for me!"

They were only three nights in to their agreed week of studying on the topic when Iseul had thrown caution to the wind and dropped the bomb. Nari, the oldest of the two, was more mature and couldn't be easily swayed. The rusty pages in front of her spoke of how soulmates often had each other's name imprinted on some part of their body: the wrist, the inner thigh, even in obscure places such as the patch of skin that was hidden behind the earlobe. She had checked all of those places a few nights ago and was disappointed to find that they were all clean from any ancient markings. Her flesh remained free from Iseul's name. Other books wrote of how when soulmates met and touched for the first time, a series of random numbers would magically appear of their wrist to confirm their bond. However, she and Iseul met two years ago and the amount of skinship that passed between them had been numerous at this point in their friendship. Still, there was nothing.

No name, no number. Nothing.

As the nights dragged on, Nari was starting to feel as if everything was hopeless; that soulmates really were just a source of fiction that authors played around with until they were satisfied with the originality of their work. Perhaps her and Iseul simply became best friends through circumstance and that the universe didn't mean to bind them together after all.

"How can you say that?" Nari's disgruntled mutter didn't go unheard to the girl beside her. "None of these situation matches with ours Iseul. Maybe... I think it's fake. Like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy."

"How can you say that about Santa Claus?!" Iseul's petulant exclaim was met with a scrunched up expression from her best friend, now immune to her childish tantrums as she folded another book shut and stored it away. Noting how Nari wasn't giving in, the youngest quickly tried to appease her depleting emotions. Thrusting her own novel forward, one that was clearly worn away from the state of its wrinkled pages, dust compiling at the seams of its spine, she shed new light in the dwindling concept. "Please just listen to this one- Have you ever heard of the ' _Red String of Fate_ '?"

The Red String of Fate; it's an age-old approach to the modern idea of soulmates but it binds two souls nonetheless. Originating from Chinese folklore, it depicts of two individuals who were tied together by an invisible red string presumably around their ankles or pinkies. Its deity, Yue Lao, an old man who lives a peaceful life under the guidance of the moon, careful constructs each silky string to a child during the eve of their birth, its red hue vibrant and glistening to nobody's eyes but his own. Everybody has that special someone and it's up to fate to decide when these two individuals will be born, and thus, the Red String of Faith shall remain limp at the side of the first born until their lover is conceived, the gravitation so great that it tugs the cord to its limits, stretching as far as it can until one day, it _snaps_ ; forcing the two predestined souls to bump into each other in a union that nobody could've prevented, regardless of time, place or circumstance.

"Iseul," the strain in Nari's voice was clear as day, innocent eyes fleeting upwards to gaze at the child with pigtails. "This book says that this applies to lovers. Isn't that what our parents call each other? I don't think that it's right for us... We're just friends, right? I don't want to be married yet and mother always said that I should marry a nice m-"

Having heard enough, Iseul's hand immediately flew up to cover Nari's mouth, her lips set into a firm line that couldn't be shook even when her best friend's unusual black eyes drooped in defeat. Thankfully, Iseul was the fighter between them and she would never give up on something that she firmly believed in. "We'll keep looking, okay? I _know_ that we're soulmates. Just keep looking and I will too. There has to be something that explains our bond. You feel it too, don't you?"

Left with no other choice but to give in, Nari numbly nodded in response once the younger girl retracted her strong grip.

Despite the lack of information on the subject, Nari believed it.

That her and Iseul... they were soulmates. And one day, fate would prove it too.

 

* * *

  
At 3:56 am of July 18 1993, Kang Iseul was gifted with her second son, Lee Taemin. The baby stretched at exactly 51.6 centimeters, quite light with the Asian average of 3.2 kilograms. Taegi, as he was affectionately nicknamed during his first few hours on this Earth, immediately became the apple of his family's eyes. Relatives from Busan and Daegu both travelled to Seoul to simply visit the newborn in person, cooing at his every reflective kick and lazy eye movement which often caused Jinki to flash a toothy grin down at his brother.

Of course, the visitors wouldn't be complete without Nari and her own family. Now that they were both in their thirties, the two best friends have found their respective partners and built their families not too long after their weddings. As for the mothers in question, it was undeniable that they were two peas in a pod; their friendship so strong that no one had been able to stand between the two women as they struggled through high school and their teenage years together, refusing to let their bond break when different universities separated them and even in motherhood, they were still experiencing it simultaneously.

 _"Soulmates indeed," Nari had laughed when they were both pregnant with their first children; her in her last trimester and Iseul, just touching into her first. Kim Taeyeon and Lee Jinki were only nine months apart. It was impossible reject the thought after all of these years, especially when they received all of the awaited signs._

"He's handsome, 'Seul." Awe dripped in her voice as she hovered above the baby, her long chocolate locks dangling from one side of her face as she pressed a tentative kiss to one of Taemin's sensitive cheeks. Unaccustomed to the smell, he began to squirm, tiny hands reaching for his mother who seemed too invested in her own thoughts to heed him any attention.

"Yours will be too," the tired woman's gaze drifted to her friend's bulging stomach, three months into her pregnancy by the time Iseul gave birth, but her eyes still managed to shine with mischievousness. "And when he comes out, I'm going to make sure that they follow our footsteps. Best friends for life and all that jazz."

Nari arched a perfect eyebrow in challenge, knowing that there was more to this conversation that she was letting on. "I suppose that they're soulmates too, huh?"

"Of course! And you know that you wouldn't have it any other way, Nari!"  


* * *

  
When Kim Jongin was born on January 14 1994 at 11:51 pm, Iseul was peacefully sleeping at home, wrapped in the safety of her husband's arms; it was a common occurrence in the Lee household since their youngest was a relatively compliant child who only demanded his parents' attention when he needed them. While he did wake up in the middle of the night from time to time, Iseul never had any on going problems with their baby Lee, thankful at the most that the same hell did not repeat itself when she remembered her post-pregnancy days with Jinki.

However, as midnight struck, Taemin who was nearing his 6 months old mark, suddenly fidgeted in his crib, his cupid's bow lips pulled into a tight frown as his eyebrows met in a confused state when he rolled over to rest on his stomach, barely able to keep his head up as he slowly roused from his sleep. The silence of the room was overwhelming, frightening even for a youngster like himself; a definite pull for something that he didn't know was curling in his stomach until he was unable to hold back anymore and started to openly sob, wailing for the whole house to hear as he waited for one of his parent's to notice his weary state. As if faith was on his side, a mobile phone by his parent's bedside began to obnoxiously ring, simply adding to the makeshift alarm clock that would undoubtedly wake his parent's up.

Woobin, his father, was the figure who rushed to his side, immediately pressing his son to his chest while Iseul answered the call, speaking in hushed whispers as if that would calm Taemin's impatient state. Unfortunately, it did nothing for the baby who continued to screech even when he was handed a bottle of milk to drink, his diaper dry and clean; with nothing to do, Woobin threw his wife a helpless glance- eyes begging for help when Taemin began to pound his fist against his chest.

"Nari just gave birth a few minutes ago," Iseul's alert eyes reflected Woobin's as she took Taemin from his arms, ushering him to get ready to leave while she viewed her tired state in the bedroom mirror. "Wake Jinki up and we'll leave immediately."

Rushing to the hospital, the two fatigued adults were grateful that it was only a half an hour's drive since the crying baby still did not calm down no matter what they did to appease his restless state with Jinki only hopelessly patting his brother's thigh during the entire car ride. Taemin himself had no clue as to what he wanted, rejecting every approach and affectionate kisses to his cheeks as he shrieked louder for something else- something... _greater_.

"Why won't he stop crying?" Woobin cried in frustration, still dressed in his pajamas when they arrived at Nari's hospital room, cradling his son expertly but his experience remained useless on Taemin. "He's not normally like this." The statement was directed to the exhausted mother who was now recovering from her recent childbirth, her own newborn son singing in tune with Taemin's cries, his tanned skin a clear contrast to the white cloth that was wrapped around him.

Iseul ran an apologetic rub against her best friend's hair, combing it back despite the stickiness of the strands from her earlier sweating. "I'm really sorry, Nari... You're suppose to be resting but our son's..."

"It's fine," she cut off, curt and drained, her every word dripping with fatigue. "Let's just put them down in the crib and maybe they'll stop eventually. I need to sleep. I can't even look at Jongin right now."

Adhering to her request, Iseul took Jongin in her arms, stroking one sun kissed hand tenderly but it only seemed to rile him up even further to scream at the top of his lungs, wiggling in his tight blanket even as he was gently placed inside the cot, Woobin dejectedly placing Taemin beside him once Iseul stepped away, her wrinkles more obvious than ever as she started to panic that perhaps Taemin was sick, and that's why he was crying _non stop_ , like his life depended on it-

All of a sudden, there was silence. 

All three adults stared in amazement at the tiny plastic cot where two peaceful babies resided, the absence of sound so deafening that they all had to make sure that their senses were working properly.

Taemin had grabbed one of Jongin's pinkies, the simple contact bringing a soft of serenity and harmony within him, especially as the smallest of the two blinked right back at him for the first time, reflectively tugging the eldest closer to his side as if he needed him.

And for the first time in his six-month-old life, Taemin laughed.  


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